Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia could widen conflict, UN warns

The United Nations has warned that recent Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia could escalate the conflict and jeopardize ongoing efforts towards a political resolution in Yemen. Hans Grundberg, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, called on the Houthis to cease missile and drone attacks targeting civilian and energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, stating such actions undermine prospects for peace.

The Saudi Civil Defence had earlier issued alerts of a potential threat in the southern city of Khamis Mushait, before later declaring the danger had passed. The Iran-aligned Houthis claimed to have attacked an airbase in the area, located in the south of the kingdom. UN officials emphasized that these strikes risk civilian lives and violate international humanitarian law.

The Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognized government reported that at least 73 civilians were wounded in the recent escalation by the Yemeni rebels, many of them women and children. The Houthis targeted civilian and economic sites in four cities - Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan, and Najran - causing fires, injuries, and halting operations across the kingdom's southern energy sector.

The escalation is part of a broader regional confrontation involving Iran and its allies, as Saudi Arabia reinforces its defences and security partnerships amid the expanding Houthi attacks beyond Yemen's borders. The Yemeni civil war, which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths from fighting and famine, resumed in late 2022 despite a ceasefire.

According to UN data, over 22 million people in Yemen require humanitarian aid, while 5.2 million are internally displaced and 18.3 million face acute food insecurity.